


with the colors

by karenninaaa



Series: pepperony week 2020 [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Pepperony - Freeform, Pepperony Week, PepperonyWeek20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:15:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24894526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karenninaaa/pseuds/karenninaaa
Summary: People were born with the eyesight of black and white. You would be able to only see the colors around you when you meet your soulmate.In a universe where the huge fragment of your future was being dictated by meeting your soulmate in a burst of rainbows and sunshine, and all that shit, Tony had surely fucked up bigtime. It was saying something for a genius like him.Pepperony week: Soulmate AU
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: pepperony week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798579
Comments: 7
Kudos: 65





	with the colors

**Author's Note:**

> QUICK REMINDERS FOR THIS FIC: Tony never stepped down as CEO in Iron Man 2. Timeline set on Avengers 1. Somehow, Steve ended up here. You know I was halfway writing this when I realized that I’ve already done some sort of amnesia au back in defying gravity. Well, this time it’s tony. Let’s come full circle. lmao.
> 
> Enjoy!!

Tony hated the colors.

A hatred that had become hardwired to his bones, the same way how breathing was an innate response to a being.

Because the colors were his daily bitter reminder of the height of his stupidity and how much he had fucked that one night. In a universe where the huge fragment of your future was being dictated by meeting your soulmate in a burst of rainbows and sunshine, and all that shit, Tony had surely fucked up bigtime. It was saying something for a genius like him.

There were times that he had loathed the vibrance presented in front of him, to the point he had wanted to claw his eyes out so he would go back to the basic black.

But then, the thought that clawing his eyes out meant that the chances of seeing The One would now drop to zero made him hesitate to actually do the stunt. A stunt he had considered so many times when he had been blinded by self-loathing, and loathing with the colors.

Because he had known, deep down, he had been holding to that one percent hope that they would meet _again_.

“Not one word from all of you,” Tony said first thing when the door of the Quinjet had opened and when they had safely landed in the Avengers Tower that morning. They had been gone for two days.

Tony was the first one to walk down the ramp, eager to bolt away from the prying eyes of his teammates ever since he had committed a mistake of mentioning a color of a door in their mission earlier. He had kept it a secret to his teammates ever since they had first assembled. He had remained quiet about the fact that he could see colors. Because it would inevitably lead to the second question of who was The One.

When in fact, Tony, himself, had no idea who in the name of binary coding and circuits she was. He knew it was a she because at least he had remembered he was with a woman before waking up to the colors. But his big dumb genius brain had failed to remember the details of who that woman was; her name, and what she had looked like. He had been too drunk to care at that time.

Going back, his teammates had been merciful to remain quiet throughout the whole journey back to the tower. But Tony knew that once they were back, it would be an inevitable question.

He saw his secretary, Pepper Potts, waiting at the entrance to the main room, holding her tablet. Tony instantly knew what it meant.

“Pepper, be a dear and do me a favor. Let’s do your monologuing tomorrow.” Tony walked past her not before catching her questioning glance at his teammates behind him.

Tony made a beeline to his suite. He was sore and tired and bruised, and the cuts on different parts of his body stung. He reached his bedroom. He removed his black under armour shirt with a bit of difficulty. His limbs hurt.

He groaned when he had successfully removed the clothing. He threw it on the bed. He walked up to a full body length mirror to inspect his wounds. He had got a minor cut on his temple and on his cheekbones. He had bruises and small cuts on his torso, on his chest, on his upper back, and on his biceps. He sighed. The damages on his body were quite a lot considering that he hadn’t been able to concentrate much after his slip-out of stupid colors. Well, the mission had been a success so that was the important thing. He decided to take a shower and disinfect his wounds later. After taking a shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist. He stepped out of the bathroom. He was about to head straight to his walk-in closet when a presence on his bed startled him.

“Oh, shit!” He jumped back in surprise, clutching his chest.

Pepper Potts was sitting on the edge of his bed. Her arms and legs were crossed. There was a first-aid box next to her on the bed.

“A little heads-up on your presence, maybe?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she stared impassively at the cuts and bruises decorating his body.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Tony reassured her as he turned around to face her. He smiled a bit. He was fortunate though, Pepper’s eyesight was still monochromatic. Wounds could be pretty gruesome in high definition.

She had claimed that she hadn’t met The One yet. It was not uncommon that she hadn’t found her soulmate in her age. Tony had read before that there were people who had found their soulmates at the age of sixty. There was nothing bad in it. It was just the wait and anxiety could be terrible. You had no idea if your soulmate had already died and you didn’t even know. There were people who had died only seeing black and white. Though, there was nothing bad about that either. There were people who were fine living their lives in black and white. Pepper must be one of them.

And there were people who would stupidly yearn to find their other half, to feel what it was like to be completely whole while in a kaleidoscope. It must be nice. Tony must be one of them.

Yes, a playboy like him, also yearned to settle with whoever was fated to him. But of course, she was nowhere to be found or trying her best not to be found by him, considering the years he had tried. The latter was the kind of rejection that was sure a sucker punch. Was he really that terrible that his The One would leave him in the hotel room without so much of a note? She must have known that he was her soulmate. The burst of colors at their first touch should be the indication, right? She had left the hotel room seeing colors. Why? Had she not been happy or satisfied that it was him?

“Get dressed. I’m going to disinfect your wounds.” Pepper’s authoritative tone jolted him back to the present.

Tony could only sigh and obliged. He disappeared into the walk-in closet. Moments later, he came back only wearing sweatpants. Pepper was still in the same position when he had left her. Then she stood up.

“Sit down.” She gestured on the bed. Tony obliged once again.

She stood between his legs. She held his chin and tilted his head to inspect the cuts on his face. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Have I ever told you that you’ve got pretty eyes, Pep?” He asked. He had told Pepper once about his sight. There was just something comforting about Pepper’s presence that he hadn’t found it hard to spill a bit about an old wound that would never heal. A heartache that would never stop hurting at the thought his soulmate didn’t like him back, enough for her to run away. He had never gone into detail with an excuse that he didn’t want to talk about one of the unfortunate events of his life. Thankfully, Pepper hadn’t pried.

“Let’s just be quiet, Mr. Stark.” Her only answer.

But of course, Tony wasn’t the type to listen. So he spoke. “Have I ever told you that your eyes are blue. Their shade is the same color as the sky on a sunny day. Whenever I’m looking up at the sky on a nice day, your eyes are the first one I would remember.” He chuckled softly.

Pepper remained quiet. He continued. “And you know-” His breath suddenly hitched.

Pepper’s thumb grazed his cheekbone, just right under his cut. He gazed up at her. Her eyebrows were still furrowed not with concentration this time. If Tony would be bold to put a name on it, it would be an expression of a worried one. 

And then she cupped his face with both hands. Before he knew it, he was tilting his head back, leaning further into her touch, like how a plant would bend in the direction of the sun. His eyes fluttered closed, suddenly hyper-aware of how their bodies were awfully close to each other that he could smell her faint perfume, aware of the heat she was radiating, aware of the warmth of her hands against his skin.

Then her touch was gone. 

His eyes snapped open.

Pepper bent over to open the first aid box. She picked up a tweezer. She used it to pick the small square gauze pad. She soaked it with disinfectant, and then she stood again in front of him holding the tweezer with a gauze pad.

“This is going to sting a bit.” She warned him.

He only rolled his eyes. “Like I didn’t know-”

She dabbed his cut - a surprise thrust of gauze pad on his temple.

“Ow!”

She only gave him a look. “I thought you already knew that it was going to sting. Why were you so surprised?”

“Because you’re brutal!” He complained. “Can you be a little gentle?”

Her face softened, a small smile spread on her lips. She put her free hand on his neck, right under his jaw. He tilted his head again, against her touch.

This time, she dabbed his wound slowly and gently. Tony hissed because it still stung. But Pepper compensated, her face moving closer to blow softly the wound to lessen the sting. Her thumb caressed his cheek in a soothing manner. 

Tony tried to stay still really, try to even out his breathing. But Pepper’s thumb on his face was making his heart and breathing stuttered, throwing it out of rhythm. It was awfully calming and distracting at the same time.

She did the same on the cut on his cheekbone. He shut his eyes because he couldn’t look anymore. He would end up cross-eyed staring at her face or he would end up kissing her right there and then.

“There, done.” She finally said.

He opened his eyes once more. Pepper stepped back. He tried his best not to shiver at the absence of her warm touch. It suddenly felt cold. He hadn’t realized that he was gripping the edge of his bed and he was holding his breath until he loosened his grip and let out his breath.

Pepper was busy arranging the first aid box to notice anything amiss with Tony or to notice how she could easily pick him apart at the seams and sew him back together in a single touch.

Why was he feeling like this all of a sudden?

He vaguely wondered when was the last time he had gotten laid. Maybe this was the reason why he felt like a wreck all of a sudden? It had been months? One night stand had gradually lost its appeal to him ever since he could see the colors. Yeah, at first, he had used it as a way to find his soulmate, because maybe they would meet again the same way they had met the first time. But in the end, he had just gotten tired, and lonelier, and felt more pathetic.

Pepper and her small touches had been comforting to Tony ever since. But right now, her touches weren’t as comforting as before. Pepper was untouchable. She had made it clear the first time. It would remain that way because, for someone as reliable as Pepper, he couldn’t lose her.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Tony was startled out of his thoughts. Pepper was staring at him while holding the first aid kit.

“Y-yeah, I am. I just probably need a drink of scotch or something..”

“Well, I’ll be heading back to Stark Industries. Just call me if you need anything.”

That was good then. He needed a break from her disarming presence anyway.

“Sure. I’ll call you, or I’ll see you later. Whatever.”

Pepper only shook her head and made his way out of the suite bringing the first aid with her.

He went to the bar instead. His teammates were nowhere to be found as he made his way to the bar. That’s another good sign. He was going to have some Me Time. He sat on the bar counter and poured scotch on his glass.

He tipped his head back and gulped the scotch down. The liquid burned his throat. But that was okay. He needed to feel other things instead of being irritable, sprightly, and tingly for some reason. He downed another glass, and another, and another. 

He was hunched over the counter, his elbows leaning on it. His hand unconsciously rubbing his nape where Pepper’s touch had been. He froze. Nope. He was not going to think about that because that was a Dangerous Zone. It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought of Pepper as appealing before, but she had got a seal all over her that she was out of limits. 

So instead, he just thought about his lost soulmate, tried to rack his brain for any hint or clue that would lead him back to her again. But all he could remember was how she had kissed him, how delicate it was at first and how it had easily escalated to something needy and out of control. He had thought at first that the sudden intensity and harsh light was due to too much alcohol intoxication.

But he should have known back then, that he was already touching his other half. He was an idiot who had focused instead on the way her lips had roamed all over his body, the way her touch had been made with fire, leaving his skin molten and aching for more. The way their bodies fit together perfectly to hold each other. He should have known back then, that it was because they had been made for each other all this time. But who would have cared, right? Because when she had kissed him again, all those thoughts had burned in the oblivion in an instant, and he was in flames, burning bright and glowing. He was whole.

Until he had woken up the next morning, all bright and shattered to pieces. Because she had left and there had been a gaping chasm somewhere within him.

But he would never forget the warmth because it had stayed with him somehow, the kind of warmth same as Pepper’s touch from before-

_ Woah, Woah, Woah. Hold your goddamn horses right there. _

_ Why would you compare your soulmate to your secretary? Have you lost your mind, Anthony Edward Stark? _

Tony groaned, burying his face at the crook of his elbow. It was alcohol. He blamed alcohol. The alcohol was responsible for everything.

“You’re drinking early, Stark.”

Tony suddenly straightened up. He blurted out. “I blamed alcohol. I’ve got nothing to do with it.”

Then he blinked and turned his head to the side. Steve Rogers raised an eyebrow amusedly at him.

“Are you already drunk?” Steve asked incredulously.

Tony groaned again. “Go away, Capsicle, drink somewhere else. Not here.”

“But there’s a nice brandy here.” Steve sat beside him. He poured himself a glass of brandy.

Tony snorted. “Because I know my drink, alright. Besides, why would you care about something like that, you never got drunk. Lucky you.” He emptied his glass. How nice it would be if he hadn’t gotten drunk that night too.

“I miss getting drunk though,” Steve said wistfully, nursing his glass.

“Don’t say that. For someone who has a track record of getting wasted, you’re fortunate.” Tony stared ahead, on the shelves of alcoholic bottles displays.

“How are you?” Steve sipped on his glass. “You’ve taken more hits than usual on our mission earlier.”

“Are you here because of that?” Tony asked, still staring at the bottles. “Don’t worry, I just got distracted for a moment. It won’t happen again. I won’t get distracted again that would jeopardize our next missions.”

Steve only snorted.

There was silence.

Steve suddenly pointed at the bottle of brandy on the counter between them. “So you know what color this brandy is?”

“Get out, I don’t want to talk about that.” Tony countered without missing a beat.

“It’s brown, though. Well, not really brown, but perhaps light brown, more like a shade of amber.”

Tony slowly turned in his seat to face Steve. Steve was still observing the bottle of brandy.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Tony said, staring at him. Because as far as he knew, only Barton and he were the people who could see colors in the team.

Steve sighed. “You’re not the only one who’s allowed to keep secret about it, you know.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Steve countered.

Tony rolled his eyes facing back the counter. “It’s complicated, and I was quite ashamed of it.” It was still the alcohol talking. He decided.

“Why would you be ashamed of it?”

“Say do you know who your soulmate is?”

“Of course! It’s only natural that you would know, right-”

“That’s the thing, Barton knows, you know. All of you know who your soulmate is, and I don’t.” The last part was barely a whisper.

There was silence again.

Tony snorted on his empty glass. “What I’m telling is, I fucked up. Don’t ask for details. I won’t talk about it.”

“We’re not going to ask if you’re not comfortable,” Steve said. “I told the team not to ask you about it. So don’t seclude yourself in here and drown yourself in alcohol.”

“Thank you.”

“Honestly, we all thought that it’s Pepper.” Steve continued.

Tony turned his head to the side again and glared at him. “It’s not her. Leave her alone.”

Steve raised his hands in surrender. “Yeah, okay. It’s just that. You’ve been together for a long time. You seem compatible with each other. You get along so well, and she certainly knows how to handle you.”

“What was that supposed to mean?”

“What I’m saying is, she’s got a lot of patience towards you. She’s good for you.” Steve seemed to hesitate. “Have she -have she found her-”

“No.” Tony immediately answered. He knew what Steve was going to ask.

“Oh.”

Another silence.

“Barton owes Bruce twenty bucks.” Steve blurted out. “They had a bet on who your soulmate is. Barton said it was Pepper but Bruce disagreed.”

“I’m going to hide all Barton’s arrows where he can never find them,” Tony muttered. “I can’t believe I got betrayed by my science bro.”

Steve chuckled.

“Can I ask a question, though?” Tony glanced at Steve.

“Shoot.”

“Where’s your soulmate now?”

Steve only clapped him on the shoulder and smiled. He hopped down the stool. “My soulmate is somewhere far away. Go to the common room. I think they’re playing monopoly.” With that, Steve left him.

After Tony had announced to the team that Pepper was not his soulmate, watched Barton lament on his twenty bucks, given Bruce a look of betrayal, and bankrupted all his teammates in the monopoly -not necessarily in that order, he retreated to his suite later that night.

He wouldn’t necessarily go to sleep but just to get some work done at Stark Industries. He had been absent for so long that Pepper was doing all the work in there. He felt guilty. Though, he had been thinking of passing his position to someone reliable for some time now. Being an Avenger and CEO at the same time wasn’t just cutting it. And all he could think about was how the position suited Pepper very much.

He propped his feet up to his desk and leaned back to his chair. A tablet was on his lap. He had been looking at the stocks of Stark Industries when Pepper entered his office. He only tilted his head to regard her. Without a word, she removed her stilettos and tossed them away. She threw herself on the nearby couch.

“Just give me a moment, I feel like I’m going to die,” Pepper called out.

“Do whatever you like,” Tony said. He went back to his tablet. “Who’s giving you a hard time this time? Should I fire them?”

“Oh, I’ll give you a list later.”

Tony snorted a laugh. He put his feet down and tossed his tablet on the desk. He stood up and went to the couch. He sat on the armrest and watched Pepper with her face down on the pillow.

“You know,” Tony began. “I feel guiltier for saying this but at the same time it also feels right.”

Pepper slowly sat up and raised an eyebrow at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Be the CEO of my company. I’m stepping down.”

Pepper only looked at him incredulously. “Are you drunk?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I’ve sobered up, and I’m in the right state of mind.” He slid down to the couch, so he was sitting next to her. “I’m serious. Be the CEO, you’re the most reliable person I’ve ever met. It suits you.”

“But why?”

“Being an Avenger and CEO is kind of hard to juggle around. And hey, you’re already doing all my supposed work there. So it’s not much of a change.” Tony shrugged.

“But why me?”

“Didn’t you listen to what I just said? You’re the most reliable person there is, and. . .” He bit his lip. He looked away. “You’re all I have, you know.”

Pepper remained silent.

Tony forced himself to look back at her. She was staring at him. He wanted to ask why she was looking at him like that like he had just given her the moon and the stars, and he was the noblest man who had ever walked on Earth. He didn’t deserve that kind of look, he was far from being noblest. He was made of bad decisions and bad habits. Look what had happened to his soulmate.

“What’s with that look, Potts? Please don’t fall in love with me now, I’ve already got a soulmate.” He joked. Because it was his only arsenal when he was walking on a floor of glass, that might crack and break at one wrong step.

Pepper suddenly blushed.

And Tony tried to remind himself that he was sober enough to convince himself that he wasn’t hallucinating, and yes, Pepper was blushing. It was rare, really, that his words would have a full effect on her. She was hard as a stone.

“I-I just remembered.” She suddenly stood up, fidgeting. “I r-remember that I left a manila envelope at your desk, y-you have to sign it.”

Tony leaned back on the couch amusedly. He watched her fidget some more and tripped on her words. “Yes, I saw it and I already signed it. I transferred the files on a folder though. It’s on my desk.”

“Yeah, right.” She immediately went to his desk. “Which folder is it?”

“It’s the red folder-” He mentally cursed. “I mean the last folder underneath-” Tony turned his head at her.

Pepper was already holding the red folder.

That wasn’t right though. There were at least four folders on his desk. Three of them were blue in color and there was only one in red. They were all identical except for the colors. But for Pepper’s eyes, they must be all the same hue. How could she. . .

Pepper was also frozen on her spot. She must have realized the glitch in what she had just done.

Tony abruptly stood up. “How did you know that it was the right folder?”

“I-I just guessed. . .” She couldn’t look at him.

“You just guessed?” Tony strode towards her.

Pepper backed away until she hit the edge of the table. Tony reached her.

“Were you just lying to me the whole time?” He asked.

“No.”

“Then why won’t you look at me.”

Reluctantly, she gazed at him.

“You didn’t have to lie to me.” He said softly. “I would understand it whether you can see colors or not. If you’re not comfortable talking to it like I do, I could understand that too. I’m not going to bombard you to ask who the lucky person is if you didn’t want me to.”

“Y-yeah, sorry.” She looked down again.

“Pepper,” He whined. He grabbed her hand to hold it. “Please don’t be awkward with me. I hate it-”

He looked down at their hands together. He suddenly felt weird. Not bad weird, but just tingly again. His gaze backed up at Pepper ‘s face and their eyes locked.

“S-sorry, but can I just try something?” Tony said.

“W-what are you...?”

Then he put his hand on the side of her face, his thumb caressing her cheek. She instantly leaned into his touch, like she couldn’t help it too. Her eyes fluttered closed. There was a stutter in the rhythm of her breathing, just like what her touch could do to him.

Tony closed his eyes, tried to map her skin with his hand, tried to go back to the past, tried to find the similarity of his soulmate from the past with the woman he was touching now, tried to find the familiar tugging sensation in his chest, the familiar pull towards her. 

His eyes snapped open. He dropped his hands.

Pepper’s eyes opened too. She wouldn’t look at him again. She bit her lip.

Tony surged forward and kissed her, crowding her to the table.

He was greeted with the softness of her lips. He cradled her head and angled her head so he would have better access to her lips. His hands went down to her hips. Meanwhile, her hands were on his hair, pulling him impossibly closer to her. Thank God, he wasn’t the only one who wanted this. She scratched his scalp with her nails and Tony let out a groan. He deepened the kiss, more of a clash of teeth and tongues. But Pepper was dominant as she slipped her tongue into him to explore his mouth.

Then Tony was transported to that night, the familiar dance of tongue in his mouth, the way her fingers carded through his hair, and the way she would brush her thumb on his cheekbones.

_ Fuck, fuck, fuck. _

Tony gasped, his mind slamming back to the present. He broke free from Pepper. He staggered back, trying to inhale a lungful of air.

Pepper was looking at him, disheveled, and lips were swollen.

“It was you.” Tony managed to rasp out.

She still wasn’t speaking.

“Goddamn it! Will you say something-!”

“Yes, it was me!” She shouted at him.

“Then why did you leave? Am I really that horrible person that you ran away from me?” He shouted back. Because damn it, those were his pent up feelings buried six feet under the ground, and now it exploded like a landmine.

“Because you’re the type that wouldn’t want to commit with all the ladies you’ve been bringing to bed.”

“Oh wow, aren’t you being judgemental here? You’ve already judged me without even knowing me!”

“I came to you, remember? I applied as your secretary and what would I learn? That what we had that night was just some unfortunate thing that happened to you. Do you know how much that hurt? Because I treasured that a lot, you’re my soulmate and I was so happy, but I felt like you didn’t even care one bit about it. Have you ever tried to find me?” Pepper was breathing hard. She was red in the face with fury and hurt out in the open.

“Yes!” Tony threw his hands in the air. “Do you know how much I tried to find you, using all the means that I have? But the thing was, I forgot you. I forgot what you looked like nor what your name was. How could I find someone without knowing the name or not knowing what you looked like? I tried, okay? Do you know why it did become an unfortunate time for me? Because it hurts everyday. These colors around us, it was a daily reminder of my stupidity to forget about you. I was wondering every day what made you leave that night, what did I do so wrong or will I ever meet you again? You could have said something.”

“How could I say something when you’re bringing different girls in your bed every other night! Do you know how much it hurt to witness that? You acted so nonchalantly about your soulmate but you’ve got no qualms in bringing who knows who to your bedroom. How could I say something? I thought you didn’t want me at all.” And Pepper was crying. She slumped on the floor as sobs after sobs erupted from her. 

And that was enough to pop the bubble of anger surrounding Tony. He had never seen Pepper cry like that, not even when the board of directors had berated her for her incompetency and mistakes. Not even when he had yelled at her once when she had committed a mistake when she was just starting. Not even when he had been kidnapped in Afghanistan. Her eyes had been red but she hadn’t cried explicitly until now.

And it broke Tony’s heart.

He strode towards her and knelt in front of her. He gathered her in her arms. Pepper continued to sob on his shoulder instead.

“It was a shitty move so I tried to find you through a one-night stand.” Tony began. His voice was low. “I was desperate. I didn’t know how else to find you. So I was hoping you’d come back to me again through the one-night stand. And then it came to the point that one-night stands aren’t fun anymore because you’re the one whom I’m always thinking about.” He kissed her hair.

“I’ve always wanted you since the beginning.” He pulled away when she stopped crying. He started to kiss her temple down to her cheek. He wiped the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs. Her eyes were closed, so he kissed the tears away from her eyes. “I was too drunk to realize that I was starting to see colors and to see what was in front of me. I’m so sorry.” A kiss to the nose. “I’m so sorry that I forgot about you.” A kiss to her lips. “I’m so sorry if you thought that I didn’t care about you. I’ve always thought about you.” 

He nipped her jaw. She tilted her head to the side. He sucked the skin under her jaw, his lips trailing down to her neck, giving her an open-mouthed kiss. He couldn’t help it so he bit down the skin on the base of her neck and sucked. She let out a small moan, and god it was the best sound to Tony’s ear.

Pepper grabbed his face to kiss him again. This time it was slow and sweet. But if Tony would think about it, what was the rush, right? This wasn’t one of those one-night-stands anymore. They all had the time in the world.

Tony woke up to the harsh light coming somewhere to his right. He groaned, annoyed. Stupid annoying colors-

Something shifted on his right again. He slowly opened his eyes. He lifted his head and looked down. Strands of blond hair splayed across his bare chest. Pepper shifted her head closer to his shoulder and tightened her hold across his stomach.

And Tony had never felt more complete until that moment.

He was whole.

And the colors around him were more than okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! I have a thing for amnesia au. srsly. lol.


End file.
